Judge Strikes Down State Law Pertaining to Elections

A judge in Jefferson City says a state law keeping people convicted of federal crimes from running for public office is unconstitutional. Former State Representative Henry Rizzo of Kansas City wants to run for another term on the Jackson County Legislature, but the law passed after he was elected to his first term would have kept him from that. He was convicted of a federal misdemeanor in 1991. The judge in Jefferson City says the law violates equal protection standards because it bars candidacies based on federal convictions, but not on state convictions. Attorney General Jay Nixon says he’ll ask the State Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.